Margie Engle is going to start the new year right, with a new top grand prix horse in the barn. Elm Rock Partners LLC recently acquired the 7-year-old Oldenburg stallion Royce from Ljubov Kochetova of Russia for Engle to ride.
Royce (Café au Lait—Petula, Grandilot) has already had great success at the grand prix level with Kochetova, who is based in the United States. They were third in the $250,000 FTI Grand Prix CSI-W at the Hampton Classic (N.Y.), fifth in the $50,000 Holiday and Horses CSI-W (Fla.) and 11th in the $100,000 President’s Cup CSI-W at the Washington International (D.C.).
Royce will be ridden by Engle and trained by Susie Humes and Ken Smith.
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“I really want to thank everyone connected with Elm Rock Partners, LLC,” said Engle. “It’s a great opportunity for me and he’s a lot of quality for sure. I’m hoping that I will be half as successful at Ljubov has already been with him. She didn’t really want to sell him to begin with, so I want to thank her for letting us buy him. I’ve only ridden him a couple of times, but he’s got a great attitude and he’s very scopey; he’s very nice to ride.”
Engle and Royce will compete for Elm Rock Partners LLC beginning in January at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla.
